TeachLaw aims to run modules that engage students through active student participation from the beginning to the end of the lesson. Below we have recommended a series of fun icebreakers that do not relate to the law. These can be used to begin a lesson to set students at ease and encourage full participation, or as a means of filling time or re-engaging students if they are finding the content difficult to process.

Sit down if

To play this game, the presenter will read out a statement, and if the statement applies to the student, they must sit down. The object of the game is to be the last person standing. Examples of the statements that could be read out include:

Sit down if…

• You are an only child
• You are the oldest/youngest
• You have a pet [insert animal here]
• You had/didn’t have breakfast today
• You shower in the morning
• You brushed your teeth before breakfast
• You are left handed
• You have been to the beach/[insert other location] in the past week
• Your favourite flavour of ice cream is chocolate/[insert other flavour]
• You have eaten a burger in the last week
• You own an iPhone
• You have your ears pierced
• You have dyed your hair before

The statements should be things that may or may not apply to the student, but should not be overly specific.

Bang!

In this game, students will arrange themselves in a circle with one person in the middle who is the “game master”. The game master will point at a member of the circle and yell Bang! The person who is shot must duck, and the person to their immediate left or right must turn and shoot the other person by yelling “bang!”. Whoever yells bang first wins, and the other person is eliminated. Other ways of being eliminated include shooting out of turn, or not ducking when the game master shoots you. The game will end with a “draw” between the last standing members who will go back to back and the game master will count to a random number and then yell draw! The last two members will take a step each time the game master says another number e.g. if the game master counts to 5, the last two members will take 5 steps away from each other.

Clinkers game

This game will require pre-preparation. To play this game, the presenter will draw a clinker chocolate out – students will guess if it is a pink, green or yellow clinker by completing a different action (e.g. hands in the air for pink, hands to the side for green and hands facing down for yellow, or holding up 1, 2 or 3 fingers corresponding to the colour) and then one student will select a clinker from the bag and bite into it. There are two variations to this game – either students that guess correctly will sit down, or students who guess incorrectly will sit down. The object of the game is to be the last man standing.

Heads or tails

To play this game, the presenter will flip a coin, and students will guess if it is heads or tails by putting their hands on their heads, or their hips. There are two variations to this game – either students that guess correctly will sit down, or students who guess incorrectly will sit down. The object of the game is to be the last man standing.

Zip, Zap, Zoom!

Students will pass a “pulse of electricity” around the circle. It can be passed left by pointing to the person on the left and yelling zip at pointing at them, or it can be passed to the person on the right by yelling zoom and pointing at them. If a person yells “zoom” they pass it to someone on the other side of the circle, and everyone must run around and swap places. The person who received the zoom will begin the next round. Students are eliminated if they miss their turn to pass the electricity, or if they yell the wrong word when passing it around. The object of the game is to be the last three players standing.

We are always looking for new ways to engage with students. If you have used an activity in class that you have found particularly helpful, we would love to hear from you. You can contact us here.